


Hold your hat and hang on to your soul, something's coming to eat the world whole!

by OhGoshOhJeez



Category: Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: AU: Little shop of horrors, Abuse, I think it's suppertime, M/M, sentient brains, the eating of human flesh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-04 04:28:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14584959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhGoshOhJeez/pseuds/OhGoshOhJeez
Summary: On the twenty-third day of the month of Septemberin an early year of a decade not too long before our own,the human race suddenly encountered a deadlythreat to its very existence.///“For god's sake, newton, how did you injure yourself this time?”Hermann limped over to Newt, gripping his arm roughly and examining his poorly wrapped bandages and hanging off band-aids.“I-There was an accident in the Shatterdome. A glass tank fell and I tried to fix it.”“With your bare hands? Are you insane?”“It’s, it’s a new Category five Kaiju brain, I’m thinking of calling it Hermann Two cause it’s as shriveled up and weird as you are.”





	1. Prologue (23/09)

When Newt discovered it, it had been on pure accident.

He was transporting a specimen from the new Hong Kong shipments in the Shatterdome, a Kaiju brain in a large glass container.

The people in charge of bringing it here really must not have cared for it well, it was drooping and basically dead inside the tank, the usually brown and blue flesh colored grey instead.

He was pulling it along on a trolley that almost looked like a children’s wagon, red and all. The wheels were a bit squeaky from age and Newt was struggling to bring it back to the lab.

Eventually, It got stuck. Newt yanked once, twice, thrice, and then the cart collapsed, sending the glass tank falling to the ground, shattering it into pieces and dropping the brain on the floor, water rushing around his feet.

“Shit.”

No one really blamed it on him. The cart was old, should’ve been replaced months ago. It didn't stop him from feeling bad, though.

His specimen was ruined, pieces of brain matter had been severed and strewn about the floor where the impact happened. The brain was basically just dead flesh now, and Newt felt grief for it.

All that research, gone down the drain on account of his own stupidity. So much for being a rockstar.

Also, his hands were covered in bandaids because he tried to fish out the bits of brain off the glass-covered ground, so he couldn’t even hold a pencil.

When Hermann got to the lab, Newt was engrossed in trying to make a pully-type system to write for him, but it involved picking things up by holding them between his elbows or teeth so it really ended up being more effort anyway.

“What on earth are you doing?” Hermann’s stern voice said, making Newt drop the sheets of papers in his arms.

“Oh- Uhh, hey Hermann, bit late aren’t you? Tuck yourself into bed too tight and got stuck?”

Hermann sighed, annoyed already.

“No, Newton, I did not. Now do you mind telling me what on earth you are trying to accomplish?”

Newt looked sheepishly down at the heap of spare parts and pieces of string piled on his desk.

“Um, well, I kinda cut my hands open so I was trying to invent something to write for me.”

Hermann’s eyes flashed with something for a moment- worry? Before returning back to its strictness.

“For god's sake, Newton, how did you injure yourself this time?”

Hermann limped over to Newt, gripping his arm roughly and examining his poorly wrapped bandages and hanging off band-aids.

“I-There was an accident in the Shatterdome. A glass tank fell and I tried to fix it.”

“With your bare hands? Are you insane?”

“It’s, it’s a new Category five Kaiju brain, I’m thinking of calling it Hermann Two cause it’s as shriveled up and weird as you are.” Newt tried to relieve some of the tension he was feeling.

“How thoughtful.” Hermann said, rolling his eyes.

Hermann gently touched where the bandages wrapped around his palm, sighing, before untucking the piece of cloth and re-tying it, better this time.

It was an almost intimate gesture that made Newts face heat up.

“Uhh, I should really get back to…”

Hermann pulled away, a sort of dazed look in his eye, and that’s when newt noticed it.

“Are those bruises?” Newt said, pointing to Hermann’s wrist, his jacket sleeve had slipped upwards without him noticing.

Hermann quickly pulled it back down, huffing, his eyes looking down at the floor.

“No. I mean, yes, but It was…”

He glanced at Newt, who was clearly concerned.

“I bumped into something. You know what it’s like with this bloody knee, it puts me off balance.”

Never once did Newt ever hear Hermann talk about his disability, much less complain about it to him.

Either he was starting to open up or Hermann was hiding something.

“Are you sure that’s all it is?” Newt asked, a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Yes, of course, now get back to trying to work with butchered bloody hands!” Hermann said, and with that, he made his way over to his side of the lab.

The jacket never came off that day.

Newt had stayed up late, telling Hermann he’d see him tomorrow, and went back to examining the brain.

Only, it didn’t look the same as before. The chunks that were taken from it were hard to notice now, almost as if the gashes had healed over like nothing even happened to it.

Newt scraped off a piece and ran it through a scan, sort of a CT type of machine that monitored any signs of radiation or strange energy levels.

As it turned out, this thing was healing itself faster than any Kaiju brain he’d seen before, it’s molecular structure was baffling, damn near a scientific breakthrough. It’s cells were regenerating like a system reboot.

But it was so weak earlier, what had changed?

Newt scribbled down some notes, too fascinated to care about how gripping the pencil shot pain through his hand.

He ended up falling asleep at his desk, papers scattered around him, the looming green glow of the brain’s tank dancing in his mind.


	2. Skid Row/Da-doo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone show me a way to get outta here  
> 'Cause I constantly pray I'll get outta here  
> Please, won't somebody say I'll get outta here  
> Someone gimme my shot or I'll rot here//
> 
> Why was he so stupid. Why was the Shatterdome so stupid? Everyone acted like they had a stick up their ass, as if other people don't matter, as if the world couldn't end at any second. God, sometimes he wondered why he took this job in the first place.  
> No, he knew why, because no one else would have him. Six PhD's, no real friends or loving relatives, no one who appreciated him. Except for Hermann. And even then he wouldn't give him the time of day anymore. His work was needed here, right? It's important. But what's the point when no one else sees it?

Newt yawned, squinting as the bright fluorescent lights switched back on, and scrubbed a hand over his face. He opened his eyes, groggily and gasped at the state of the new specimen. 

It was shrivelled, back to its grey, lifeless colour, not moving in the tank. 

“What?! How?” Newt mumbled, rushing to stand up.

“How can you- How can you be like this when last night you looked so alive!”

He groaned, writing down on his notepad _ “KAIJU SPECIMEN: TEMPERAMENTAL AS SHIT!” _

He needed some coffee, or at least he needed to get up and stretch his legs.

On his way to the shatterdome cafeteria, he bumped into General Pentecost, just his luck.

“Geiszler!” He barked, Newt had to suppress a flinch.

“Uhhh, sorry, sir, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Stacker gave him a stern look, fixing the lapels of his blazer.

“It’s fine. I’ve been meaning to talk with you, anyway. Maintenance told me you shattered a tank with a Kaiju brain inside yesterday.”

“Oh, Uh, yeah, the- the cart wasn’t stable enough to handle it, i really should have checked-”

“Yes, you should have. Regardless, what have you found out about it? Anything I should know about?”

“Well, yeah, actually! There is!” 

Before Pentecost knew it he was being talked into getting dragged back to the lab, Newt following alongside him like an excited puppy.

As he led him into the lab, he gestured wildly to the tank.

“Okay, so right now, it looks horrible, right? It’s dying, but- but yesterday it was so alive looking! It was dead when I rolled it in, then after the container smashed it just seemed to…Rejuvenate itself.”

He walked to the tank, placing a bandaged hand on the cool glass. He gazed at it, it was beautiful, terrible. 

“It’s healing itself faster than I’ve ever seen any flesh heal before, let alone Kaiju flesh. I think something triggered it to reform when it fell, maybe- maybe the shock impact or-”

“Is this really worth my time, Geiszler or are you just over excited?”

Newt’s face fell, removing his hand from the tank and pulling at the sleeve of his shirt, nervously.

“Uh- Well, I mean, if Kaiju brain’s can heal this quickly now then...Won’t that be a problem for the Jaegers?”  Pentecost gave him a look, reminding Newt of a disappointed father.

“It’s one brain, Newton, and it’s dying.” Pentecost said, before turning to walk out the lab again.

“Don’t waste your time on it.”

B-But I’m not- I- He’s already gone. Shit.” Newt said, looking up at the brain.

“I tried, dude. I tried.”

Just then, Newton heard the familiar click of Hermann’s cane and turned his attention back to the door.

“Herm! Buddy, where have you been, I-” Newt cut himself off at the sight of Gottleib.

He. Was wearing. Sunglasses.

Sunglasses, him! Dr. Hermann Sweater-Vest- wearing Gottlieb who doesn’t skip through the terms and conditions pages and still uses the phone book instead of looking shit up on the internet.

“Ohoho, Herm, what’s with the sick glasses?” Newt said, making a B-Line for him. “Hungover? What, did you drink two schnapps and pass out?” 

“Newton, I am not in the mood.”

“Aw, c’mon, you know glasses are  _ my  _ jam, you’re stealing my style.”

“I am doing nothing of the sort. Now get back to work, you imbecile.”

“Naw, come on, lemme see those baggy eyes, I miss them so much! Give me the glasses, they’d look better on me anyway, come on, hand em’ over.” Newt said, grabbing for the glasses. Hermann ducked away, making noises of protest.

Eventually, Newton got a good hold on them

“Aha! The glasses are mi-”

Holy shit.

Holy  _ shit _ .

Hermann had a massive bruise under and around his eye, purple and red blooming over his face. It was swollen, almost to the point where the eyelid was closed over.

“Holy shit.”

Hermann had a look on his face that Newton rarely saw. He looked  _ ashamed _ . His eyes darting from Newton, to the floor, and back to Newton.

“Dude…”

Before Newt could get another word out Hermann grabbed the glasses from Newt’s hand, and was walking away as fast as he could.

“ _ Fuck _ .”

There were a million ways that conversation could have gone better. God, why was he such an idiot? Why did he take the glasses off him, fucking hell.

Why was he so stupid. Why was the Shatterdome so stupid? Everyone acted like they had a stick up their ass, as if other people don't matter, as if the world couldn't end at any second. God, sometimes he wondered why he took this job in the first place.

No, he knew why, because no one else would have him. Six PhD's, no real friends or loving relatives, no one who appreciated him.  Except for Hermann. And even then he wouldn't give him the time of day anymore.  His work was needed here, right? It's important.  But what's the point when no one else sees it?  Fuck, why was he thinking about this when Hermann was walking around with a black eye? Who did it to him, who dared to do that to him?

Newt was gonna kill them. Or at the very least he was going to try. 

 


	3. Grow for me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Seriously, dude?” Newt said, out of breath from the shock. “I ran so many tests with you, and all you wanted was blood?”  
> Newt thought it through.  
> This was just an experiment, right? No harm in giving in, just for today. He could show Pentecost and prove him wrong about the brain being useless and feel good about himself for a few weeks.  
> “Okay, okay fine...As long as you don’t make a habit out of it or anything…”  
> ///  
> I've given you sunshine, I've given you rain.  
> Looks like you're not happy, 'less I open a vain!

Newton had his head in his hands, surrounded by papers and trying his absolute best to not cry tears of frustration or pull his hair out.

He’d been working at this for hours. Days, even. 

No matter what he tried, the damn brain just would not get better like it did before. He tried everything, recreating the impact of the drop, testing different environments, running it through multiple scans, all came back inconclusive. 

God. Damn. It.

On top of it all, Hermann hadn’t come into work for three days and Newt was freaking out. He’d texted, he’d called and asked everyone if they’d seen him, worried out of his mind. 

It was all his fault, he shouldn’t have exposed him like that. Idiot.

 

He groaned, finally getting up from his position on the floor, grimacing at the feeling of his back cracking.

“Come on, man! I’ve tried everything with you. Are you sick? Or just plain stubborn?” Newt felt insane talking to a freaking brain, but there was no one else to vent his anger.

“That’s it.” He said to himself, grabbing his scalpel and nearing the tray where the brain sat, it was pulsing in a steady rhythm which made Newt feel unsettled. 

He’d cut it open, put it into jars and move on. This was insane. He should’ve just given up when Pentecost said to. He pressed the scalpel to its fleshy exterior. 

“Sorry, buddy, but I don’t know what else to do. I mean, what do you want from me, blood?”

As soon as the scalpel dug in, it slipped, like the outside was too hard to puncture, causing the blade to glide across Newton’s gloved finger, through the latex glove.

“Ow! Fuck!” He said, hissing in pain. He pulled off the glove and chucked it in the general direction of the waste bin.

“Goddamnit.” 

He examined the cut. It was only a small gash, but there was already a trickle of blood pooling out and down his arm. 

Just then, Newton heard something. A faint thumping sound, like a heartbeat. 

It was the brain. It was pulsing quicker and seemed to grow more saturated in color, the greyish brown turning into a light pink.

“Oh my god!” Newt exclaimed, inspecting it.

“I don’t- I don’t understand, what’s going-” He reached his bloodied hand out and when he did, the pulsing grew quicker and quicker.

Newt’s eyebrows knitted together in confusion. He looked at his bloody hand, then back to the brain.

He took his injured hand away and replaced it with his other. The pulsing stopped.

“Oh boy…”

It...Wanted his blood? 

Suddenly, it clicked. When the tank fell, Newt had tried to pick up the glass with his hands and got sliced in the process, the blood must have regenerated the brain, that’s why it looked so different after!

“Seriously, dude?” Newt said, out of breath from the shock. “I ran so many tests with you, and all you wanted was  _ blood _ ?”

Newt thought it through. 

This was just an experiment, right? No harm in giving in, just for today. He could show Pentecost and prove him wrong about the brain being useless and feel good about himself for a few weeks.

“Okay, okay fine...As long as you don’t make a habit out of it or anything…”

He stuck out his hand again, this time pinching the cut so the blood dripped down onto it.

It’s pulsing grew quicker and its flesh turned a fantastic shade of blue. Newt laughed and ran a hand through his hair. 

“Jeez, Hermann two, you have quite an appetite.” 


	4. Ya never know/Dentist!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was tall, or at least, taller than him. He was wearing a fancy red suit, one which Newts whole years pay probably couldn’t afford. He had a shock of white hair and scars reaching down the length of the side of his face.
> 
> “So, this is the little guy you’ve been talking my ear off about, huh, Hermann?”  
> ///
> 
> When I was young and just a bad little kid  
> My momma noticed funny things I did  
> Like shootin' puppies with a B B gun
> 
> I'd poison guppies, and when I was done  
> I'd find a pussy cat and bash its head  
> That's when my momma said
> 
> She said "My boy, I think someday  
> You'll find a way to make your natural tendencies pay"

 

By the next week, the lab was crowded. Packed full of amazed scientists and even Jaeger pilots, staring in awe at Newton’s new experiment. 

Even Pentecost was impressed with him. Impressed. With Newt.

“Newton, Newton! Tell us about the brain, what happened that you managed to restore its natural form in such a short amount of time?” One scientist exclaimed, and Newt felt like a _rockstar_.

“Well uh, I think it has to do with the conditions and environments I’ve been putting it in. it seems to thrive more out in the open than it does in formaldehyde, hence the wires and stuff.” Newt lied through his teeth. There was no way he could tell them about the blood thing, not when he was getting this amount of attention.

“That’s incredible! So do you have an idea of what’s causing this?”

“Uh- Not currently, I’m working on it, though!”  
“And which category Kaiju did this come from?” Another person said, writing down notes furiously.

“Well, we think it’s a category five. It’s healing so quickly though, I think with help,  I might be able to channel the energy that it uses on itself for other purposes, maybe even fuel or medicine.”

“So, this could be used for Jaegers?” Pentecost said.

“Yes! Possibly even providing a more powerful fuel than before.”

Just then, Newt heard the pulsing sound from _Hermann 2_ stop. He turned, to find that the brain was shrinking, almost wilting, turning back from blue to grey.

“What the…” Newt trailed off.

“Geizsler, I thought you’d fixed this...” Pentecost said, and Newt fumbled with his words.

“Yes! I - I did, it must just be hungry…”

“Hungry?”

Newt realized he’d spoken out loud.

“Uh- It’s a figure of speech, I usually give it um... I put electrodes on it and that seems to help keep it going so if you don’t mind I’m gonna have to cut this meeting short f-for now.”

Newt ushered people out of the room, hurriedly thanking them for coming before shutting the iron doors.

“Christ, _Hermann two_ , can’t you stop being greedy for a day? I can’t keep giving you more, I’ll run out!”

Newton had promised himself he’d stop giving blood to it. But that was before he had all this attention and recognition, and a chance to prove himself. He said he’d stop but he said that days ago.

“Damn it.” Newt said, rolling up his sleeve.

He’s started using needles, a better way of getting the blood out without being unsanitary. His fingers were covered in band-aids from previous feedings, but no one seemed to notice. His line of work had a lot of accidents, and chances were, if anyone notices anything, they'd just chalk it up to Newt's usual clumsiness. 

He pricked his finger with the needle, hovered it over the brain, and let the blood drip down.

The brain quickly restored itself and Newt felt relieved.

He was about to call for Pentecost again, when he heard the door open behind him. Quickly, he rolled down his sleeve again, trying not to look suspicious. he saw Hermann enter the room, he turned his attention to him but by the time he did, Hermann had saw Newt and left.

“Hermann, wait!”

Newt rushed after him, ran down the hallway and skidded on his heels to a stop in front of him.

“Huh- Hermann, _hi_.”

Hermann turned to him. His black eye had almost completely healed,  and Newt breathed a secret and quiet sigh of relief.

“Hello, Dr. Geiszler.”

“I was…” Newt rubbed the back of his head, nervously. “I was looking for you everywhere, I haven’t seen you in days, man...I was worried.”

Hermann gave Newt a tight, but warm smile.

“No need to worry, I’m as right as rain.”

“Are- Are you sure, cause you were pretty upset the last time I saw you...” Hermann’s smile disappeared and he looked down at the ground. Newt continued, “Listen, I’m...I’m sorry about what I did. It wasn’t cool and if I knew abou-”

“It’s fine, Newton.”

“But I really _am_ sorry-”

“It’s really fine.” Hermann said, coldly.

There was a silence between the two, Newt, worried and awkward, Hermann, tired and withdrawn.

Then a hand smacked Newton’s back.

“Whoa-” Newt turned and almost shit himself at the man before him.

He was tall, or at least, taller than him. He was wearing a fancy red suit, one which Newts whole years pay probably couldn’t afford. He had a shock of white hair and scars reaching down the length of the side of his face.

“So, this is the little guy you’ve been talking my ear off about, huh, Hermann?”

Newt gaped, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

“What’s his name again? Neil? Nelson?”

“Newton.” Hermann corrected, then seemed to shrink back. “His name...Is Newton.”

The white-haired man shot a glare at Hermann.

“Was I talking to you? ‘Cause I don’t remember asking for your input.”

Newt’s fists curled in anger.

“Listen, dude, who the hell do you think you are?! Don’t talk to him like that.”

The man flashed Newton a gold capped toothy grin which made Newt’s skin crawl.

“Oh, my apologies, I forgot to introduce myself…”

The man brushed past Newt to Hermann, putting a hand around his shoulder.

“I’m Hannibal Chau but uh, most people call me The Dentist.”

Newt’s mind was racing.

“Why- why do they call you that?”

Hermann looked visibly uncomfortable.

“Cause if someone’s being rotten, I remove their teeth from their skulls, little man.”

Newt couldn’t tell if Hannibal was joking but he fucking prayed he was.

Newt’s eyes drifted from Hannibal, then to Hermann, then to Hannibal’s hand around Hermann.

“You’re dating _this_ guy??”

“Newton, leave it.”

“No, I cannot believe this!" Newton marched right up to Chau, looking him dead in the eye.

“You don’t think I’ve not seen the bruises? The way he flinches whenever I move a goddamn muscle?”

Chau glared at Hermann.

“What have you been telling him? Telling stories again?”

“He didn’t have to tell me, it was pretty fuckin’ obvious. Look, you’d better get out right now before I-”

“Before you what?” 

“I’ll- I’ll kick the shit out of you.” 

“Sure you could, buddy. But you wouldn’t want anything to happen to Hermann now, would you?”

Newton’s blood ran cold.

“This is insane, I’ll- I’m gonna tell someone, I’ll get you arrested!”

 

Hannibal leaned in, stepping forward so that he was almost chest- to-chest with Newt. He chuckled, darkly, and pointed a ringed finger in Newt's face.

"If you think the police would mess with someone in my position, you're living a fantasy, boy."

"And what position would that be?" Newt hated the way his voice trembled. 

"Now I can't reveal much about what I do, but if the police found out, they'd find pieces of their family shoved into their mailboxes by the next morning, you got that?"

Newt was speechless. How- How had Hermann managed to bump into this madman?! 

“Come on, Hermann. We have a lot to talk about, don’t we?” The look of sheer panic on Hermann’s face coupled with the smile on Hannibal’s gave Newt heart palpitations.

Hannibal shoved Hermann down the corridor, making him stumble, before finding his bearings, reluctantly following him down the hall.

_Away from Newt._

“Fuck.”

  



	5. Somewhere that's green

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serious TW for abuse in this chapter, can't stress that enough. Nothing explicit, just the aftermath but it could be quite triggering for someone who has been in an abusive relationship. Sorry that the chapters are quite short.
> 
> ///  
> He needed Newt. Soft Newt, who would sing to him at three AM, who would remind him to take his meds every day and would shout “Goodnight!” to him when the day was done.
> 
> He pictured he and Newt, getting away from the Shatterdome and the Kaiju entrails and the clanging machinery, to somewhere beautiful. Somewhere familiar and full of life.  
> ///  
> Far from Skid Row  
> I dream we'll go  
> Somewhere that's green.

Hermann could faintly hear the door slam shut and finally opened his eyes, blurry with tears.

After Hannibal and Newts altercation, Hannibal had reduced Hermann to a crumpled, bloody mess on the floor of his own apartment, his arms wrapped around himself to provide any kind of comfort.

He reached for his cane, only to find it had been broken into two pieces beside him. Whether it had been used as a weapon or had been snapped in a fit of rage, Hermann couldn’t remember. It had all happened so fast. 

He felt a steady trickle of blood trail down from his nose, running to his bottom lip and he sighed, shakily, wiped at it with his hand and let out a quiet sob. 

He was pretty sure his left arm was broken, or at least fractured, as every movement sent pain shooting down it, making Hermann wince and bite his lip until it stung.

Hannibal and him were supposed to be a one time thing, a quick way to relieve work stress without having to worry about complications. But that’s all his daily life was now, complications and pain. He wished he’d never met Hannibal, wished the man would go crawl into the gutter and die. The thought made him feel terrible, sick inside.

It didn’t help that Newt knew about it. He couldn’t have hid it from him forever but god, he would have if he could. Newt worries too much, and Hermann hated the thought of tormenting Newt like this. Like he was a lost lamb, a weak and frail thing that needed to be treated with caution, cause at any moment he could break down into a million little pieces. 

He could snap, just like that. 

Newt didn’t need it. The worry. He didn’t need Hermann. 

Christ, he wished he did. He wished Newt needed him as much as Hermann needed Newt. But he never would. He’s just an object of pity. 

Poor, pitiful, broken little Hermann.

Hermann, with a great deal of struggle, managed to get up from his position on the floor and limp to the bathroom.

He stared at himself in the mirror.

His eyes were baggy and bloodshot from crying. His hair a matted mess, sticking to his forehead from sweating. He was bruised all over, past faded marks along with new, fresh ones for the collection. His nose was bleeding badly and he couldn’t tell if his lip was busted too because of it. 

When did he become this? Where was the brave, no nonsense man he used to be? 

Hannibal must have beaten it out of him, along with any other shred of respect he had for himself.

He groaned in disgust, before turning on the shower, not bothering to take his clothes off as the water hit his body and face, stinging the open cuts and wounds.

_ This is what you deserve, _ he thought.  _ You deserve the hurt because you don’t know anything else.  _

He thought back to the times when he and Newt would argue, about stupid things, idiotic things that only they would argue about, but even though Newt was angry with him, he’d still open the lab door for him because he couldn’t do it himself. He still brought him his lunch as they argued and he still walked behind him so Hermann wouldn’t trip over. 

He needed that. Not Hannibal. Hannibal, who wore rings made out of bone. Hannibal, who spat fiery insults at him through a golden snarl. 

He needed Newt. Soft Newt, who would sing to him at three AM, who would remind him to take his meds every day and would shout “Goodnight!” to him when the day was done. 

He pictured he and Newt, getting away from the Shatterdome and the Kaiju entrails and the clanging machinery, to somewhere beautiful. Somewhere familiar and full of life.

But that was only a daydream.

Hermann watched the crimson stream of his own blood swirl down the drain and pressed his head against the cool tile of the shower. 

He would go to bed, he would have nightmares about a man lurking in the shadows, before he would dream of Newt, warm and resplendent and home, and he would maybe, just maybe feel a little bit better.

Then he’d wake up alone. 


End file.
